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Nick Parkinson
Joseph Parker said he is grateful to have enlisted the help of Tyson Fury in preparing for Saturday’s heavyweight rematch against Dereck Chisora at the Manchester Arena.
Parker, from Auckland, New Zealand, has been on a training camp in Fury’s hometown of Morecambe, in northwest England, since October to prepare to beat Britain’s Chisora for a second time.
“It’s been great to be around Tyson [Fury], to get feedback from him and he’s been telling me things that I should be aware of against Dereck,” Parker told ESPN.
“He knows Dereck well, they are friends, and he’s fought him twice. It gives me confidence and a boost to be training alongside someone like Tyson [Fury] because he’s so passionate about boxing and the positivity he has.
“He’s always encouraging and he would never leave a man behind. I’m grateful for him to use his gym here and he’s helped me out with contacts for his strength and conditioning coach and nutritionist. He’s been a great friend.”
Parker, (29-2, 21 KOs), who made two defences of the WBO world heavyweight title before losing on points to Fury’s English rival Anthony Joshua in March 2018, said he was not happy with his two performances earlier this year.
In May, he earned a split points win over 37-year-old Chisora, (32-11, 23 KOs), after being floored in the first round, and in February beat New Zealand rival Junior Fa in a unanimous decision. However, Parker, 29, believes he is ready to improve upon his last two outings after a longer training camp with trainer Andy Lee.
“I’m a lot better than I was in those performances, they weren’t close to what I can do in the ring, and I want to take care of business and beat up Dereck Chisora,” Parker said.
“I’ve been based here in Morecambe where Tyson [Fury] lives and trains after I came here after Tyson’s fight against Deontay Wilder in Las Vegas.”
“My first camp with Andy before the last Chisora fight was only five weeks, it wasn’t enough. That was from leaving New Zealand and meeting Andy for the first time in Ireland and then going to Morecambe to train. This time it has been a lot better and longer. I’ve been able to work on things and understand what Andy wants me to do. Andy has been able to put together a game plan and we feel this camp has gone a lot better.
“The last Chisora fight was a lot closer than I was hoping for. I believe I won the fight but some people are questioning whether I won the fight or not and this is the chance for me to look better. There are a lot of things we have been working on and I’ve made some adjustments.”
Parker has been training alongside the likes of Ireland’s Jason Quigley — who challenged American Demetrius Andrade for the WBO world middleweight title last month — Fury’s brother Tommy, as well as Isaac Lowe, Johnny Ward, and New Zealand heavyweight prospect David Nyika.
Fury has also been training across the last few weeks in preparation for his expected WBC heavyweight title defence against Dillian Whyte. Fury’s last fight was in October when he knocked out Deontay Wilder in their third meeting to retain the WBC world heavyweight title.
Parker has been away from his wife and three daughters for over two months as he hopes to take a step closer to his goal of fighting for a world heavyweight title again.
Meanwhile, Chisora, from north London, has complained about not getting decisions and insisted he should have been awarded victory against Parker in May.
Chisora also lost to Ukrainian Oleksandr Usyk on points in October 2020, Dillian Whyte (by KO) in 2018, and last challenged for a world title almost a decade ago, when he was outpointed by Vitali Klitschko.
Parker is targeting one of the three belts now in the hands of Usyk, who won the WBA, IBF and WBO titles from Joshua on points in September.
“The belts are held up right now with Tyson against Dillian Whyte and Joshua against Usyk rematch, so for the time being I want to be involved in the best fights I can,” Parker said, who added he would not fight his friend Fury for any title.
“My goal is to become a two-time world heavyweight champion. I know I’ve not had my best performances recently but I’m happy with my new team and I know I can do a lot more than I’ve shown this year.”